69É«ÇéƬ

The last full week of term is a good time to reflect on the school year. And what a year it has been! The learning curve has been steep in my first year as Principal at 69É«ÇéƬ, and I have been grateful to listen to and learn from a huge range of people with very diverse views. I am proud of the many opportunities that the School offers to our students and the dedicated s ...

Time seems to be racing past – can it really be that we’re nearing the end of Term 4 and I have (nearly) survived my first year as a principal?! Although the Primary School is still buzzing with the promise of the infamous and much-awaited concert which I am very much looking forward to, the last couple of weeks of term in the High School are feeling very strange, with Years 1 ...

Non-teaching friends often naively comment at this time of year that we teachers must be winding down and enjoying the end of year festivities. It would probably be rude to snort with derision at the misguided thought of a relaxing end to Term 4, as it is one of the busiest times for us, preparing for concerts and finalising assessments and writing reports and generally trying ...

The past week has been a busy and memorable one, I was proud to be an ambassador for 69É«ÇéƬ at many important community events. Sunday’s commemoration of Kristallnacht at the PHC was a moving service. Judith Lawrence from the Holocaust Institute delivered a beautifully crafted and moving speech that taught me much I had not known about events that happened on that barba ...

Although the weather hasn’t been particularly kind to us recently (I had thought that spring had sprung, but then needed to dig out my thermals again) there have been lots of positive happenings in and around 69É«ÇéƬ. The Arts came to the fore as we were wowed by VAPA night, in which we admired various artworks and our students made music, sang and showed films which the ...

I was so impressed by the respectful, dignified and fun way with which the Year 12 students finished their time at 69É«ÇéƬ last week. Breakfast on the beach, a game of laser tag and a stunning valedictory dinner with a Hollywood theme all provided a fitting end to what was, for many of our young women and men, fourteen years of education at Carmel. The valedictory assembl ...

This week is a special week for us, as we farewell the Year 12 students. Working with a small cohort is particularly special, as we can follow the path of every single student and enjoy their journey as individuals. It is also notable that most of our students have attended 69É«ÇéƬ from the very beginning of their education and have known nothing else. In my valedictory ...

Term 4 can be a challenge for both students and teachers. The October holiday seems to have already receded into the distant past and the long summer break is too far away to look forward to. Schools also tend to try and fit a whole term’s worth of activities into only eight weeks, which adds to the frenetic pace and can make people feel overwhelmed. I read an article recently ...

Anybody who thinks that the youths of today are unable to communicate clearly wasn’t at the 69É«ÇéƬ Year 9 entrepreneurs’ pitch session this week. I was so impressed by our students’ ability to not only come up with an innovative entrepreneurial idea, but also to market and launch it. On offer were scented candles, glasses frames, electronic organising software, stationer ...

As we near the end of the term, students and teachers are tired but working hard until the very end. As I write this post, the Year 12 students are immersed in their exams and many other students are working towards their final assessments before the holidays. The announcement of next Thursday’s unexpected public holiday resulted in a sleepless night for me, as I realised ther ...